Spike, I misinformed you. The truth is, you'd asked me when Azrael was used last, and I told you that you were the last to use him... in the Bane fight. But I completely forgot about his role in Syn's Red Hood arc because I had always assumed it was Croc, not Azrael, sinking to the bottom of the Bay and dragging a handcuffed Joker as an anchor. The Circus stuff definitely happened after the Bane fight, because that arc happened at the tail-end of Season 1. So I apologize, it was my fault for not remembering. Or misremembering. Either way.

But since you now know, and The Joker clearly survived and came back, there's nothing to say that Azrael could not have done the same. So therefore...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike_x1

THE NEW ULTIMATE DC RPG
Character Application

.Character you wish to portray: Azrael/Jean-Paul Valley

.Hero, villain, or walking the line?: Hero

.Powers and physical attributes: Trained since birth to be a holy assassin for the Order of St. Dumas, Jean-Paul is incredibly skilled at hand-to-hand combat and gymnastics, and with nearly all conceivable bladed weaponry.

.Origin and backstory (as you see it): Not knowing anything other than what the Order of St. Dumas had taught him all his life, Jean-Paul was given the mantle of Azrael, the Avenging Angel, and instructed to be their agent in Gotham. Somewhere along the way in that mission, Azrael fell under the sway of the Joker and joined the criminal's traveling circus. It took weeks of struggle, but Valley's mental conditioning finally took hold and allowed him to break free and leave the circus, but it left him more confused than ever. It seemed as if St. Dumas' forces had abandoned Gotham when it was apparent that their knight had deserted them, and Jean-Paul himself was left with a crippling sense of guilt over his half-remembered actions when he was a part of the Joker's circus.

Out of this guilt, he sought out the newest crimelord in Gotham at the time: the monster known only as Bane. Underestimating Bane's skill and overestimating his own, Valley was drastically outmatched and barely escaped the fight alive. Since then, he has been retraining and honing his body to new heights, because his rematch with the monster will be different. Azrael can feel it in his bones. If he cannot be an agent of St. Dumas any longer, then he will honor the lost hero of Gotham and become and Agent of the Bat.

.The burning question - Why this character?: Jean-Paul is a troubled man but with a heart of gold, and I'm interested in showing the character's journey for redemption after he was brainwashed by the Joker into doing horrible deeds. He wants to help fill the void left by Bruce Wayne's Batman and make Gotham City a safer place.

.How will this version of your character differ from others? How will it be Ultimate?: Jean-Paul's motivations are different, although the vague broad strokes are kind of there. His vendetta against Bane is less about him trying to prove himself, and more about trying to atone for past sins and fighting what he sees as the personification of the corruption that the Order of St. Dumas originally wanted him to fight.

.What do you believe you can bring to the RPG?: Bananas.

.Provide a short sample post as your desired character, in three paragraphs or more:

Once Bane is beaten, where will I go next? I have no way of tracking the Order, but maybe they'll contact me. Man, who am I kidding? They cut their losses with me, and I can't blame them. The second I let that clown dig his psychic fingers into me, I became a liability. I'm far more of a risk than they're willing to take, which begs the question of whether or not I can even trust myself any more. I think I broke free from the circus, but for all I know this could all just be more of that clown's mindgames. I could still be going through his mental hoops and wondering what's what while he sits back and laughs his ass off.

I need to find Batman. He'll know what to do. The Order isn't exactly fond of him, but he clearly has resources and his heart is in the right place, so doesn't that make him the closest thing I have to an ally right now?

No. No, I think he... I'm so confused! Batman has been gone for so long, hasn't he? It's why this city has fallen so hard! God, my thoughts are so damn foggy right now.

The sudden thunder clap brings me crashing back to reality as lightning illuminates the churchyard in front of me. This was supposed to be the Order's base of operations in Gotham, but there's nothing here for me any more. Nothing except for the crime. It's impossible to ignore, and the man at the center of it--if that villain can be called a man--will be made an example of. This time, Bane, I'm ready for you.

.Preferred roster pic? (No preference, and one will be chosen for you):

Okay, so he broke free of the circus to fight Bane originally, and then... rejoined them?

*searches for more 2 year old IC posts and rereads them*

...Meh, I guess so. Whatevs. If I had a problem with it, I should've called attention to it at the time because plans for Az's vendetta against Bane has been in the works since I had their original fight and no one seemed to be using the character. I'll run with it as it is and just say he's a bit more mentally f**ked than I first thought.

__________________"Look into the soul of Bane and know the truth. We will topple your kingdom if it takes an eternity. We will defeat Hell."

Alright, a month ago I asked where everybody was in the game, so it's time for another sitrep. With 25 days left until the deadline and things remaining pretty stagnant, I'm beginning to fear we might not make it. Hopefully if we're forced to go over, it isn't by much. Where's everybody at with their storylines now?

After the arc I'm currently in the midst of with Eddie, Jason/Batman might tackle two or three more things before I can safely call it a wrap. I've got one arc with Alfred that I'm doing with another poster, but that remains entirely in their hands. After that, I'll be good.

Catwoman needs to wrap up this arc with Red Hood, and then I'll put her in her endgame for the season (a few posts to wrap up some storylines before the year-long gap). Oberon needs to do a little more, but I'll wait for this Catwoman/Red Hood story to advance before doing anything. I've fallen into a terrible rut with Green Arrow, but I can still have him ready for the Legion of Doom fight in just a few posts. It's just a matter of getting the ball rolling on him again.

Do we even have time for a Legion of Doom fight before the deadline anymore? Superman can hop into something right f**king now, but I don't know about having time to begin something that big, execute it properly, wrap it up satisfyingly, and then do a season finale within just a few days.

__________________"Look into the soul of Bane and know the truth. We will topple your kingdom if it takes an eternity. We will defeat Hell."

It's not just you. We're all pretty far behind. Byrd's right, there's no other real option than to say that the deadline'll have to be moved. How far back, I'm not sure, but I'm not gonna be able to make a call on that until activity picks up without cutting nearly everybody off while they're still in the middle of something. Best thing for everyone to do right now is just focus on getting back into the game.

Eddie, I know you're pretty deep in real life commitments, and I hate to say anything at all. But I'd like to see a post within the next few days. I've been waiting on a reply for over two weeks, so if I you can't, I'm gonna have to just start bunnying our way through the arc so that I can at least boost my own activity again.

Andy, I'll begin setting up my end of our arc as soon as I can. Given we discussed the particulars of it the other night, and where I need to be to make things happen, it's safe to assume that the ball's probably in my court now anyway.